Help on the way to South Asia quake victims (Xinhua) Updated: 2005-10-09 16:10
Countries around the world were offering help and funds as well as sympathy
to the victims of a major earthquake that rocked Pakistan, India and Afghanistan
on Saturday morning.
A 49-member Japanese emergency rescue team left Sunday for Pakistan to help
with relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake measuring 7.6 on the
Richter scale.
The team, formed by disaster rescue experts from firefighting, police and
coast guard organizations, was sent at the request of the Pakistani government.
The Japan Red Cross Society separately said it will extend 15 million yen
(133,000 US dollars) in aid to Pakistan and dispatch an advance medical team to
Islamabad.
Turkey, a frequent victim of earthquakes, also offered aid to Pakistan. Two
military planes carrying aid, doctors and rescue workers were sent to the
calamity-striken areas in Pakistan on Sunday.
The European Union has earmarked up to three million euros (3.6million
dollars) for the rescue effort.
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday sent a message of condolences to his
Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf over the massive earthquake that caused
heavy casualties and damages in the South Asian country.
Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name,
offered his condolences, through Musharraf, to the victims' families and the
injured, and expressed deep grief over those who were killed in the disaster.
On the same day, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing
also extended condolences to their Pakistani counterparts Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri over the deadly earthquake.
According to media reports, US President George W. Bush said help was on the
way to victims of the quake.
"The people of the United States offer our deepest sympathies for the loss of
life and destruction caused by the earthquake that struck outside of Islamabad,"
Bush said in a statement issued late Saturday by the White House.
"Our initial deployments of assistance are underway, and we stand ready to
provide additional assistance as needed," Bush said.
Saddened by the loss of life and destruction, UN chief Kofi Annan said UN had
also rushed an emergency team to Pakistan.
Several British search and rescue teams were expected to depart soon, while
the French government said it would send a 25-member emergency rescue team,
along with sniffer dogs and cutting material.
In a message of support to his Pakistan counterpart, French President Jacques
Chirac pledged to "provide any assistance which Pakistan could need."
Pakistani Major General Shaukat Sultan said on Sunday that about 18,000
people were killed and 40,000 people injured in Saturday's strong earthquake,
17,000 people in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and 1,000 more in Punjab and North
West Frontier province.
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